Editing Artistamp (section)

[[File:10-meow stamp.jpg|thumb|Artistamp by Elaine with Grey Cats, 2005]]

An '''artistamp''' (a [[portmanteau]] of the words "artist" and "stamp") or '''artist's stamp''' is a [[postage stamp]]-like art form used to depict or [[commemorative stamp|commemorate]] any subject its creator chooses. Artistamps are a form of [[Cinderella stamps]] in that they are not valid for postage, but they differ from  [[forgery|forgeries]] or bogus [[Illegal stamps]] in that typically the creator has no intent to defraud [[post office|postal authorities]] or [[stamp collecting|stamp collectors]].

Artistamp creators often include their work on legitimate mail, alongside valid postage stamps, in order to decorate the envelope with their art. In many countries this practice is legal, provided the artistamp is not passed off as or likely to be mistaken for a genuine postage stamp. When so combined (and sometimes, less strictly speaking, even when not so) the artistamp may be considered part of the [[mail art]] genre.

[[Irony]], [[satire]], [[humor]], [[eroticism]] and subversion of governmental authority are frequent characteristics of artistamps. Artists may leverage the expectation of official endorsement that necessarily inheres in governmentally-issued postage for the purpose of shocking or subverting viewers' expectations, with such actions typically representing a specific political and artistic motive. Other practitioners are content to depict more homey subjects like kittens and family members. Some artists use the form to create fantasy stamps for their own [[postal system|postal administrations]] or [[countries]] – in many cases thereby developing or complementing an imaginary [[government|governmental system]].